Afenifere berates Akande for attacks on Fasoranti, Falae

National Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria, Chief Bisi Akande

Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has berated the Action Congress of Nigeria  Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, for his attacks on  its Leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, and Chief Olu Falae for being part of Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s rally to declare his intention to seek re-election in Akure  on July 25.
Afenifere General Secretary,  Chief Seinde Arogbofa, said in an interview with reporters in Akure, on Sunday that Akande’s action “smacks of  disrespect for elders.”
Arogbofa said, “It was the action of Akande and his cohorts in the ACN that made the reconciliation of Afenifere members impossible because of their selfish agenda.”
He said the group’s  decision to support Mimiko’s  second term bid, “which drew the ire of Akande and his ilk was taken in the best interest of Yoruba and not because of inducement from any quarter”.
He added, “I do not expect Akande, a former governor and once a jolly good Afenifere brother to have gone to town to call his senior brothers names.
“I expect that even if his Public Relations Officer went out of his way to insult and be rude he should still have cautioned him.”
Arogbofa accused the former Alliance for Democracy governors, including Akande, who were elected in 1999 under the umbrella of Afenifere, of destroying the organisation “and made the reconciliation in the group almost impossible for their selfish agenda”.
He said, “It is a fact that he (Akande) won the 1999 election using Afenifere label and the grace of the late Chief (Bola) Ige, not through his popularity or versatility.
“Then more than any other person Akande was the one that made reconciliation in the Afenifere family impossible up till today, not Fasoranti.
“From 2004 to 2005 we held about six meetings in the Akure residence of the leader and about six others in the Lagos secretariat of the organisation to resolve the bitter feud between Akande and Senator Akinfemwa.
“But because he, Akande, was not always forthcoming, he literally stalled the peace moves. I still keep the records of the meetings and for decency I don’t want to go into details.”
“Less than five years ago this our brother was also instrumental to aborting the reconciliation meeting between the Afenifere brothers at a peace meeting in Premier Hotel in Ibadan where he shyly stopped the re-union of all the Afenifere Progressive Parties of A.D, A.C and DPA.